View Larger Map“>Willy Oaks and was somewhat shocked at the music that was blasting from his awesome sound-system. He had chosen a satellite station that played oldies (but goodies) and I was astounded to find that everyone at the party was so excited by it. I’m talking old songs, that my dad made me listen to growing up. Surprisingly, it was such a refreshing change to go to a party and not find dirty rap booming and people rubbing up against each other just because the music called for such actions. Everyone was dancing, but in a completely carefree way, just for fun. Everyone knew every word to every song and just kept dancing, no matter how dumb we all looked.

I had more fun at Roger’s party than I have at other parties in a while, and literally the only thing different I can name about it is the music. To name a few of the unlikely party songs that were played were

“Twist and Shout” by

the beatles

“Jack & Diane” by

john mellencamp

and “The Loco-Motion” by

little eva

These are extremely different song choices than the usual tunes by

lil wayne

ludacris

and

dmx

that we jam to at parties. I won’t deny that I like these artists and usually enjoy listening to them when I go out, but the music at this particular party was just so different from the norm, and the effects of it caught me by surprise.

The effects that music can have on people are profound but often go unnoticed. Witnessing and feeling those effects last weekend was really interesting, and my friends all agreed that the music made for a great party scene, but I don’t think they realize how much it affected their brains. Researchers have said that some types of music can even act as endorphins for the brain and really cause a person to calm down or enhance their mood.

Music is not often considered a type of media, but its remarkably unique effects and the fact that it can help people communicate with each other makes it one. Also, the effect that music has on other media forms is undeniably amazing.

Here’s an old video of “Twist and Shout” since I’m pretty sure the music files I tried to input did not work: